The first film in the series caused a big buzz, in both good and bad ways, so a sequel starring the infamous antagonist seemed almost inevitable, this followed two years after the original. Basically it has been two years since the events of the first film, the remains of Chucky the doll, possessed by the soul of "The Lakeshore Strangler", Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) (named after Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray), has been recovered and reconstructed by Play Pals Inc. They have had bad publicity because of the events reported, they have put the doll back together for analysis, and to prove to the public there was nothing wrong with it. Of course they are unaware that the soul of Ray still inhabits the doll, so he comes back to life soon enough. Chucky is after the child he tried to transfer his soul into before, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), now eight years old and in foster care, as his mother is in a psychiatric hospital, declared insane for her claims. Andy is living with foster parents Joanne Simpson (An American Werewolf in London's Jenny Agutter) and Phil Simpson (Gerrit Graham). Also living with them is teenage orphan Kyle (Christine Elise), who has been transferred to numerous foster homes due to her trouble making. Chucky manages to track Andy down, he finds another Good Guy Doll is in the house, he switches himself with it. Andy is paranoid about the Good Guy Doll, and fearful that Chucky will return. Sure enough, Chucky ties him up and attemps to transer his soul, until the parents interrupt, assuming Kyle is responsible. The next day, Andy goes to his new school, Chucky follows him and gets him into trouble with teacher Miss Kettlewell (Donnie Darko's Beth Grant), writing an expletive on his test paper. Andy is put in detention, but manages to escape the classroom before Chucky can get to him, Mrs. Kettlewell is killed by Chucky. The killer doll returns to the house, Phil is the next victim, but still no-one believes the little boy's story that the doll is responsible. Kyle discovers the truth, she uncovers the original Good Guy Doll buried in the back yard, but Chucky holds her at gunpoint, demanding she takes him to the Foster Centre. Andy tries to escape, but Chucky takes him by force to the nearby Play Pals Inc. factory, to attempt to transfer his soul into Andy's body. But the incantation ritual fails, Chucky has a nose bleed and realises he is trapped inside the doll body. Enraged, he tries to kill Andy and Kyle, chasing them through the factory, losing his hand in the process, replacing it with a knife blade. After losing his legs as well, Chucky is splashed by heated plastic mould until apparently dead, he springs to life one more time, before getting an air hose shoved into his mouth, he is inflated until he explodes, and Andy and Kyle walk out relieved it is over. Also starring Grace Zabriskie as Grace Poole, Peter Haskell as Sullivan and Greg Germann as Mattson. As before Vincent is cute as the little boy trying to convince everyone of the evil doll chasing him, and the puppet techniques and menacing and wisecracking vocals of Dourif make Chucky the star of the film. It is fair to say that this follow up is almost the same thing all over again, but the deaths are inventive and fun, the finale in the toy factory is a nice touch, and Chucky is always good value, a predictable but not completely terrible horror. Okay!
Review of Child's Play 2
